Congratulations to the 13 finalists of the Uncommon Cameras photography competition!
Uncommon Cameras, the photography competition run by the European Alumnae Council and the Mount Holyoke Global Alum Alliance, would like to congratulate our 13 finalists and our overall winner!
Our “Super Winner”
Voting was open to all MHC alums and students. Voting closed on 24th November and the overall winner was Nadia Heath ’80, Scotland, with her joy-filled image “Fly Like A Bird”. Huge congratulations Nadia!
Meet our finalists…
The Uncommon Cameras jury included photography and art professionals Jennifer Ransom ’65, Claudia Palmira ’95, Sonali Gulati ’96, Sylvia Xue Bai (白雪) ’07, and Christine Boehm ’09. After intensive and extensive communications via email and Zoom, the jury selected 13 finalists out of the 122 photographs that were submitted by 53 alums from 24 countries and five continents.
To see all 122 entries, visit our Instagram to see the photos and read their captions 🙂
(scroll down for the gallery of finalists’ pictures)
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Cindy Chan ’05, Australia | Deserted Classroom |
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Eleanor Chang ’78, USA | Argue, Pray, Love |
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Sophie Chen ’19, China | Milky Way |
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Elizabeth Cooper ’95, UK | Ben Sgulaird |
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Heather Do ’07, Germany | Weather the Storm |
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Carolyn Geisler Hornfeld ’63, Switzerland | The Dents du Midi – Am I dreaming? |
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Nadia Heath ’80, Scotland | Fly Like a Bird |
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Karen Hopkins ’92, Spain | Sunlit Lavender and Grasses of LaMancha |
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Mieke Kamps ’78, The Netherlands | Inside & Out |
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Lane A. Rosenthal ’74, USA | My Paris Teacher |
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Virginia Ross ’66, UK | Surfing Forecast |
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Elizabeth Ta’eed ’09, Portugal | My Other Half |
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Olivia Wrobleski ’21, USA/UK | c/a 4:30 pm |
View our 13 finalists’ photographs & backstories
The finalists were selected proportionally in each different category (representing roughly 10% of the entries in each category), and are all together here for you to enjoy:
08. Karen Hopkins ’92, Spain – Sunlit Lavender and Grasses of La Mancha
The Castilla-LaMancha region of Spain is an extremely difficult climate to grow anything in. You literally need a pickaxe to break the clay earth, and nothing ‘foreign’ survives without drip irrigation as well as soil amendments. Therefore, and especially during the pandemic, I have been experimenting with native plants and grasses (‘weeds’, if you may), transplanted from the surrounding countryside during winter dormancy, to create a more sustainable garden. The very fact that they not only survive but thrive in their new home brings joy to my life.
The quality and intensity of the photos submitted for Uncommon Cameras is truly impressive, and the jury faced a very challenging task. During their evaluation, jury members focused on artistic quality, composition, visual impact, and originality. They also valued adherence to the theme and relevance of the backstories. To view all entries, click here.
The task was daunting but exhilarating. One of the jury members summed up the experience with these words: “[it was] amazing to see this cross-continents effort! While I didn’t expect to be empowered in the process, it happened! Reviewing the photos made me happy and gave me an MHC kind of power”.
Congratulations to the finalists, our overall winner, and big thanks to all jury members for their participation!